


Quark and Odo's Get Along Jacket

by Paratale



Series: All Those Times They Didn't Kiss [1]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Episode: s05e09 The Ascent, Huddling For Warmth, M/M, Pre-Slash, Sleeping Together, Unrepentant Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 06:57:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7747633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paratale/pseuds/Paratale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What it says on the tin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Quark and Odo's Get Along Jacket

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wrote this almost two weeks ago during a long car ride, but decided to save it for a while after posting To Sleep, Perchance to Dream, to lend myself the illusion of having maybe a little bit of chill. however, now that I've posted two cuddly fluff fics in the span of two days, that illusion is no more.

"Look." Odo pointed at the sky. "The sun is setting."

"Or what passes for a sun on this planet," Quark mumbled through chattering teeth.

"Explains why it's gotten colder," Odo replied, voice clipped. As a solid, he'd come to realize that talking expended energy. Not that it ever seemed to stop Quark from prattling on uselessly, but then, Quark was always acting in defiance of known laws.

"This place is bad enough in the daytime," he was currently wailing, even as he shivered in the makeshift coat. It was Odo's turn in the jacket. "When night falls it'll get dark and I still only have one working ear--"

"Should keep going as long as we can. Maintain body heat," Odo grunted. Quark had no choice but to stumble on after him.

As it turned out, night fell fast on this unpleasant little world. Misty clouds covered the sky, and there were no moons or nearby stars bright enough to shine through.

Odo stopped, and Quark walked into him. "I can't see a thing," he complained, rubbing at his useless ear.

"No point in going on. Try to find some shelter. We'll sleep until the night cycle is over."

"What if that's a really long time?"

Odo didn't have an answer to that.

Quark ended up finding a rocky crevice in the side of the mountain just big enough for both of them. If they both piled into it, the rocks would block the wind and maybe even insulate their heat.

The favorable position was obviously between one warm body and the rock for maximum shielding from the cold, but Odo let Quark crawl in first without saying anything. The last time Quark had fallen asleep, it had been difficult to rouse him, and if Odo were forced to leave him behind, Quark would almost certainly die.

Also, Odo would have to carry the transmitter by himself. His back ached (even more than it ached already) just thinking about it.

Odo lay down a few inches away from Quark, just inside the crevice. They'd slept on opposite sides of their rock last time, but now he had to admit that just wasn't practical. He could feel the heat radiating off his companion and instinctively wanted to curl up against it, but couldn't quite bring himself to cross that threshold yet.

Odo closed his eyes and tried to rest, but Quark was still shivering violently beside him. It was distracting, and probably using up the remains of Quark's energy that could be more efficiently used to climb the mountain. No, this arrangement wasn't practical either. Odo sighed, conceding defeat.

"I think," he said grudgingly, "that we could probably both fit in this jacket."

Quark didn't waste any time. "Then let me in it already!" He rolled over and began untangling himself from the makeshift blanket-coat while Odo unzipped the environmental suit. Once it was open, Quark curled up with his back against Odo's front while Odo used the blanket to cover over the outside of the crevice.

There was a significant amount of wriggling around involved as they got the suit zippered back up and Odo was morbidly grateful that he was so cold and tired, because otherwise he might have had to contend with certain other autonomic responses besides shivering.

Odo had to admit their current situation was much improved over the last. Quark was zipped securely into the jacket so not only was Odo sharing his body heat, but the suit was now insulating twice the heat it had been before. Quark's shivering almost completely stopped.

Odo's ungloved hand was getting cold, and he figured he may as well pull it inside the jacket torso, where everything was so delightfully warm. With some effort, he slid his arm out of its sleeve.

Quark's meticulously buttoned up and tucked in layers of clothing had crept into disarray during their ordeal. Quite by accident, Odo's hand, while trying to find a comfortable resting place, slipped underneath Quark's shirts.

"Your hand's cold," Quark whined, a sleepy slur to his voice. He made no move to dislodge Odo's hand, however, instead retaliating by lifting Odo's leg with his foot and draping it across himself. Odo saw no reason to move; Quark was pleasantly soft and warm underneath the many rough clashing layers, and Odo was too comfortable to care about silly humanoid values like personal space.

Putting the disturbing pleasantness of this experience into his growing pile of "things to deal with if we ever get off this rock," Odo was finally able to drift off to sleep.

* * *

 

Scarcely an hour had passed when Odo was woken by a faint sound nearby. He cracked open an eye, blinking sleepily.

Quark was squirming in the jacket and making quiet whimpering noises. Odo craned his stiff neck to get a look at him. He didn't seem to be hurt, just dreaming. "Quark," he hissed in the ear that was still working. "Wake up."

Quark gasped sharply and jerked. Odo wrapped an arm and a leg around him to still the movement. "Stop moving around. Going to knock the blanket off," he murmured through the haze of his own exhaustion.

"Odo?" Quark had wriggled himself onto his back and was staring at the rocky ceiling. He had also started to shake again, vibrating against Odo's chest.

"Shh, haven't gone anywhere," Odo yawned, settling back down. He was more than ready to go back to sleep, having been soothed into a state of compliant relaxation by the warm presence of a sleeping partner.

Quark's sideways position was pulling the jacket uncomfortably, so Odo reached in and pulled on Quark's shoulder to get him to roll over until they were pressed front to front inside the suit.

"What if there are wild animals on this planet that only come out at night?" Quark's voice was muffled by Odo's uniform.

"There aren't any predators," Odo sighed, settling his hand back into its old position, chin resting on the top of Quark's head.

"How can you be so sure?" hissed Quark.

"Because this planet can't even support insect life, let alone a food chain."

"We could be the food chain," whispered Quark sullenly. Odo's eyes were already closed.

"Would you rather get up and start walking?" Odo knew he would not; they were finally warm, and disentangling themselves at this point just wasn't worth it.

Quark was silent, pressing his face into Odo's shoulder. The last of his shaking subsided. Odo sighed, content, and drifted back to sleep.


End file.
